Charlotte Entrepreneurship Solution Design Sprint – Summary Report

Charlotte Entrepreneurship
Solution Design Sprint
Summary Report ● April 22, 2016
Supported by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
A Solution Design Sprint is an accelerated, creative, collaborative process that unleashes the idea power and creativity
of a diverse group on a specific challenge. Design Sprints
employ the principles of Human-Centered Design to help
organizations solve complex problems, explore opportunities, and develop new products, services, and experiences.
Divergent Thinking is used to elicit new and novel ideas
(both possible and “impossible”) for an identified problem.
Convergent Thinking then offers a way to work toward
actionable solutions that are desirable, technically feasible,
and financially viable.
Charlotte Entrepreneurship Solution Design Sprint ● Summary Report
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SUMMARY
In 2015, the Charlotte Regional Fund for Entrepreneurship (CRFE) commissioned a study
to systematically evaluate the diverse and rapidly growing innovation-driven entrepreneurship community. The resulting Charlotte Entrepreneur Growth Report (CEGR)
profiled several exemplary high-growth companies, but also noted the area lags behind
other similar cities with regard to startup activity, venture capital investment, and coordinated support for entrepreneurs.
To kickoff an effort to address the opportunities and gaps highlighted in the Growth
Report, a core team from the CRFE (Terry Cox, Dan Roselli, and Paul Wetenhall) and the
City of Charlotte’s Economic Development office (Holly Eskridge) organized a one-day
Solution Design Sprint that was held on April 22nd, 2016. Forty-one stakeholders in the
Charlotte-area entrepreneurship scene participated in the workshop, facilitated by the
team from Faster Glass Consulting, which was focused on identifying ways to cultivate
the ecosystem for innovation-driven entrepreneurship in Charlotte.
The workshop began with Dave Jones, CEO of Peak 10 and former CRFE board chair,
providing an overview of the findings from the Growth Report. This was followed by
the participants, grouped in small teams, working through a series of structured lateral
thinking exercises that ultimately generated 327 ideas. An idea filtering process narrowed
that number down to 29 Idea Cards.
After the entire group affinitized the Idea Cards into nine themes, such as Private Public
Partnerships, Human Capital (Talent), and Infrastructure, new teams were formed based
on the topics that garnered the most interest. Six concepts were explored by creating
visual prototypes, which allowed the participants to gain a shared understanding of the
ideas and to provide feedback on the work of others. Additionally, the teams developed
Concept Canvases to capture their thoughts on a number of factors, such as who would
benefit, potential unintended consequences, and ways to test the ideas quickly and
inexpensively.
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The day culminated with each team presenting
their concept to a Stakeholder Review Panel
made up of Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts,
Bob Wilhelm (Vice Chancellor for Research and
Economic Development at UNC Charlotte), Dain
Dulaney (Partner at Bishop, Dulaney, Joyner,
& Abner), and Dave Jones (Chairman and CEO
of Peak 10). The panel members shared their
appreciation for the efforts undertaken by the
participants and provided their feedback on the
six concepts presented, which are summarized
in the appendix.
Idea Card Themes
1. Entrepreneur support
2. Human capital (talent)
3. Higher education
4. Organization & network
5. Capital
6. Economic incentives
& investments
7. Branding & awareness
8. Public-private
partnerships
9. Infrastructure
Following the Design Sprint, the core team
reviewed the output and concluded that the
nine themes that were identified during the Idea
Mapping exercise should be explored further
so as to not constrain next actions to the six concepts that were developed during the
one-day workshop. Furthermore, with additional work, some of the concepts may evolve,
some may be scrapped, and new concepts may be introduced.
As for next steps, the core team will integrate the Design Sprint output with the findings
from the 2015 Growth Report and the 2013 Mapping the Ecosystem Report to create a
strategic vision and framework. This framework will be refined with input from Design
Sprint participants and other stakeholders, and will be shared with the larger community,
including the joint task force of the Charlotte Chamber of Commerce and the Charlotte
Regional Partnership who are currently developing a regional economic development
strategic plan. The goal is the creation of a viable action plan that, upon execution, will
grow the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Charlotte area.
Charlotte Entrepreneurship Solution Design Sprint ● Summary Report
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NC
E
Idea Generation:
DIV
E
RG
E
Volume is key
Use ‘How might we?’
Generate ideas without
judgement or evaluation
Challenge fear of being wrong
327
IDEAS
Idea Filtering:
Select ideas to develop further
Consider ideas that can be
tested quickly & cheaply
29
IDEA
E
NC
E
RG
VE
N
CO
CARDS
Output:
Prototypes
& Concept
Canvases
6
CONCEPTS
APPENDIX
1 The Hub
Digital and physical hub that aggregates access to resources in Charlotte for entrepreneurs to learn, grow, and be successful. By connecting entrepreneurs, education providers, investors, government, and large companies, the Hub would facilitate interaction and
serendipitous “collisions.” For example, local government transportation leaders searching
for solutions involving the Internet of Things could more easily find entrepreneurs who
are focusing in that space. In addition, aspiring entrepreneurs could navigate the Hub’s
resources to identify and fill gaps in their knowledge, experience, and/or capabilities.
Team Members
• Bruce Clark
• Terry Cox
• Al McMillian
• Rob Phocas
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2 Invest Charlotte
A place to educate and connect entrepreneurs and investors in the Charlotte region.
This concept would help entrepreneurs become better prepared to seek out and receive
investment. Likewise, Invest Charlotte would also provide a platform to qualify investors
and provide them with the information and tools to evaluate opportunities with
confidence. Finally, area entrepreneurs and investors would be able to find each other
more easily, thereby potentially increasing deal flow and raising the profile of Charlotte
as a place where high growth entrepreneurship happens.
Team Members
• Kim Austin Lee
• Manuel
Campbell
• George
McAllister
• Ken Pulliam
• Andre Walters
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3 I3 Consortium
Large companies typically have strategic imperatives focused on future technologies and
products or current gaps. Similarly, startups and university-based R&D Fellows strive to
find sources of revenue/funding to grow their companies or further their research. This
concept, entitled I3 Consortium (Industry - Immersion - Internships), proposes to connect these stakeholders with a mechanism that would enable large companies to “adopt”
startups and R&D fellows. This would accelerate the development of promising early
stage technologies while immersing the startups and Fellows in the adopting company’s
culture and processes. Separate consortiums would be established for specific industries,
and funding would come from city and state government as well as foundations and private companies.
Team Members
• Terri Beattie
• Mark Cramer
• Doug Dawson
• Bob Irvin
• Kathy Pearce
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4 Entrepreneurial Trade Association
An organization that would advocate for a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem in an ongoing, full-time, professional
basis. Would enable the startup community to speak with
one voice, but would be inclusive of all stages of entrepreneurs. The ETA would also lead PR efforts and lobby
large corporations and state government and advocate for
actions that support entrepreneurship. This organization
would also take responsibility for executing the regional
entrepreneurship economic development plan.
Team Members
• Marilyn Carpenter
• Devin Collins
• Mark Mahoney
• Dan Roselli
5 Start CLT Fest
Start CLT Fest would be an annual festival that helps
rebrand CLT as a center for innovation and entrepreneurship. Such an event, with music and local food and brews,
could serve as a platform to celebrate successful startups
and provide an opportunity for aspiring entrepreneurs to
pitch their ideas in a high-energy, public environment. In
addition to bringing together the entrepreneurship community, the Start CLT Fest would signal to and attract
millennials to the area who value the startup vibe.
Team Members
• Jay Bendis
• Juan Garzon
• Chris Elmore
• Lindsey Haaser
• Hannah Levinson
• Keva Walton
6 Go Big or Go Home
One of the biggest challenges facing Charlotte is the
lack of “big ideas” that can drive serious entrepreneurTeam Members
ial outcomes. To address that challenge, Go Big or Go
• Paul Solitario
Home proposes a world-class, 21st century Research &
• Charles Thomas
Development campus at UNC Charlotte that leverages
• Paul Wetenhall
Charlotte’s advanced manufacturing and healthcare delivery capabilities. In the past, cities grew because of harbors
and transportation networks. Today, they grow by aggregating the talent that generates the knowledge and intellectual property that fuels highgrowth entrepreneurship and innovation. Envisioned as a long-term, $200m─$300m
project, Go Big or Go Home would be a game changing investment.
Charlotte Entrepreneurship Solution Design Sprint ● Summary Report
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Charlotte Entrepreneurship
Solution Design Sprint
The workshop and this report were made possible in part by the
generous support of the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation